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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in San Fernando, California

In 2025, fire departments serving San Fernando responded to 399 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B- Peak yr 2024 Los Angeles County 23,958 residents 0 reporting departments 1,556 5-yr
Total incidents
399
-15.8% vs 2024
Building fires
31
Residential 65% Other 35%
Property loss
$23K
$22K structure · $500 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.

399
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 163 40.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 44 11.0%
Power line down 41 10.3%
Building fires 31 7.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 29 7.3%
All other categories 91 22.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 66
Feb 32
Mar 32
Apr 32
May 32
Jun 33
Jul 37
Aug 28
Sep 34
Oct 27
Nov 28
Dec 18
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in San Fernando

1,556 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.6M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 24 —
2022 242 —
2023 417 +72.3%
2024 474 +13.7%
2025 399 -15.8%

* Well below San Fernando's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 31 building fires San Fernando departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
35%
34
Cause undetermined
33%
32
Intentional / arson
5%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
16
Under investigation
1%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
10%
1
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in San Fernando?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 387 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.

#Area of originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 94 24.3%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 71 18.3%
3 Outside area, other 36 9.3%
4 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 26 6.7%
5 Vehicle area, other 17 4.4%
6 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 13 3.4%
7 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 13 3.4%
8 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 11 2.8%
9 Cooking area, kitchen 11 2.8%
10 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 10 2.6%
11 All other areas 85 22.0%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the San Fernando mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 171 44.2%
2 Arcing 39 10.1%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 35 9.0%
4 Heat source: other 32 8.3%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 17 4.4%
6 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 14 3.6%
7 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 13 3.4%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 10 2.6%
9 Heat from undetermined smoking material 9 2.3%
10 Hot ember or ash 7 1.8%
11 All other sources 40 10.3%
04 The biggest fires

4 fires · $22K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by San Fernando departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $15,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
2 $5,000 Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other Significant Investigated
3 $1,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
4 $1,000 Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire Significant Investigated
05 How San Fernando compares

San Fernando vs California vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. San Fernando sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

16.65
Incidents per 1,000 residents
San Fernando
16.65
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
1.29
Building fires per 1,000 residents
San Fernando
1.29
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
San Fernando
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of San Fernando

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,505,323 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 281,893 36.8 mi
2006 Debris and open burning 162,702 30.4 mi
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 14.5 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 27.4 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 14.8 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 15.4 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 23.0 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 24.7 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 9.7 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 17.3 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 26.0 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 37.3 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in San Fernando do fires concentrate?

Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 91340 620
2 91344 506
3 91345 415
4 91342 11
5 91352 2
6 90036 1
7 90065 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to San Fernando

Six California cities with population within ±25% of San Fernando. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.